The Universal Language of Freemasonry

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: Cum Laude, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (FTSK Germersheim, FB 06 Translations-, Sprach- und Kulturwissenschaft), language: English, abstract: Freemasons employ a special way of communication, for example, sign language, metaphors, symbols, neologisms, technical terminology, ritualistic travels. The problem under investigation is the Masonic claim to possess a 'universal language'. The organizing construct of this dissertation is a comparison of the whole range of Freemasonry - male, female, youth orders, orders for the Blacks, and quasi-Masonic fun orders - with imitative fraternities, such as early American benefit societies, and their inherent diction. The experimental method used by the author included the research of Masonic and other fraternal sources of the last three centuries, visits to Masonic institutions and interviews with Freemasons. These activities led to the findings that, while the symbols are generally applicable, the written Masonic language is not totally uniform internationally. Thus, the ethical teaching which is to be drawn out of the symbolic Masonic communication has reached an international level, and it is a fact that it is still alive since the official founding of Freemasonry in 1717, but the ritualistic phraseology of comparable early trade unions and mutual benefit societies of the United States either has ceased to be employed or merely forms a pompous but hollow shell around a worldly issue, such as insurance.

Christina Linda Lyons (born Voss) holds a PhD in English from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, FTSK Germersheim, Germany (2003) and a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from Southern Illinois University Carbondale (2013) and has taught English and English Education for 15 years in the United States. She was a student teacher for a year at Carbondale Community High School, taught for 10 years at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, for a year at John A. Logan College in Carterville, IL, and for nearly four years at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. Her interests include Freemasonry and secret/planned languages, learning disabilities (dyslexia, dysgraphia, etc.), translations, educational philosophy, pedagogy, and music. She was married to the late pianist and composer David Paul Lyons and studied music composition with him as well as with Armando Bayolo, Christopher Walczak, and Phillip Brown at SIUC for several semesters, winning about 22 composition awards and honorable mentions. She also holds two Montessori certificates (Early Childhood and Elementary Education) and is interested in child-centered, constructivist, and hands-on education.